


Late Night Talks

by Isonos_Den



Category: Danny Phantom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:08:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29547708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isonos_Den/pseuds/Isonos_Den
Summary: Post Disasteriod. Unable to sleep, Maddie mauls over the events of the week, when an unexpected guest joins her for a little late night talk.
Kudos: 47





	Late Night Talks

**Author's Note:**

> Just a random story that was floating in my head. Kind of always wanted to know how Maddie would have reacted after finding out about Danny. Let it be known, I hate how Phantom Planet ended, and I don't agree with it. Also this story is adoptable if anyone wants to expand on it. I don't plan to take it any further.

Maddie sat in front of the heater, her thick jacket draped over her shoulders, as the cooling cup of tea in her hands steamed lazily. It's heat keeping the chill of the Arctic night at bay and warming her hand. The warm glow of the heater filled the shared family room, casting deep shadows throughout. Behind her Jack's snores filter through the silence. On the other side of the small room her children slept, along with Sam and Tucker. The rise and fall of their blankets evident that the teens were fast asleep. She should have been asleep like them, curled up against the warmth of her husband's form, but sleep was being elusive tonight.

News of the Disasteroid making its way to Earth, the previous weekend had filled her with dread, while also fueling her determination to save her home. Multiple attempts to destroy or stop the celestial object had failed spectacularly, as hope and time slowly began to fade. Then, Vlad had offered another possible solution to their problem, saying he could save them all, but at a cost. Before the crowd of Amity Park and the multitude of news cameras, Vlad Masters revealed himself as a 'half-ghost' and if the world's powers signed over their authority to him, he would save them. She'd been upset and hurt that Vlad had betrayed all of humanity for his own gain, but her hurt could wait, time was limited. The world waited with baited breath for news that Vlad's plan had worked, only to hear of failure again.

Their last chance to save the world was fading when the ghost kid, Phantom, returned. The white haired teen had been missing for several weeks, only to appear before them saying he had a plan that could save them all. Understandably people were sceptical, but what more could they lose? So with great reluctance they moved forward for the ambitious plan. The project, detailed by Tucker, was an enormous undertaking. World powers and government officials scrambled to pull their resources together and started to implement the plan. The building of the mega structure that would be the center of the whole plan came together quickly, as global teams began to spread light weight, hollow tubing across the planet. The events that followed, had been the most stressful moments Maddie had ever experienced. A roller coaster of emotions had filled her on D-Day. Fear, sadness, terror, relief, and surprise. So consumed in her thoughts, Maddie gasped and jumped as a gentle hand touched her shoulder. Standing behind her, hands raised and palms open, stood her still exhausted looking son. Cool, familiar blue eyes looked back at her, as the warm light danced across his form.

"Sorry..." Danny spoke softly. "Didn't mean to scare you."

She watched as he stood before her, grabbing the edges of his falling blanket to pull back around himself. Taking the moment to look him over, Maddie studied her son. His dark hair was a mess, a clear sign he'd just gotten out of bed. The sleeping bag he'd been using was fully unzipped and draped over his t-shirt and sleeping pants. Shaking her head to clear her head, Maddie smiled at her son.

"Oh baby, no, it's okay. I was just too deep in thought." She assured him. Scooted over on the bench, patting the empty area, inviting him to sit next to her. Smiling in thanks, he sat down heavily, letting out a breath of "Oomph" before settling in, pulling the blanket closer around himself.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked her.

"Too much to think about." she said, keeping her voice low. "Still kinda processing everything I guess."

Danny hummed in understanding. "I get that. It's not everyday you find out your son's half ghost."

The comment was said so matter-of-factly, that Maddie couldn't help but laugh a little at the absurdness of it.

"Or save the world." she added on.

Danny smirked, a small glint of humor reaching his tired eyes. "That's just another Tuesday for me."

Maddie stared at her son, dumbfounded by how casual the comment was. It only drove home just how much she didn't understand her own son anymore. Normal teenagers had to deal with homework, school, and what the latest trend was. But for Danny it wasn't just that anymore, he'd been dealing with ghosts and hunters for the past two years and she'd only just realized it. Some part of her hurt knowing she'd been part of that, had been so close to hurting her own child.

She laughed weakly, returning her gaze to the orange glow of the heater. "I suppose it was."

For a while the two sat in silence, the occasional snores from Jack breaking the quiet once in a while. It really had been a hectic week. One she didn't want to live through again if it could be helped. Glancing at Danny, she could make out the subtle changes in his face that came with growing up. Her and Jack had been so wrapped up in ghost hunting and new inventions, that she'd failed to notice just how much her little boy had grown. The chubby cheeks of childhood were fading from his face, giving way to the more defined features that came with approaching adulthood. Small pale scars and freshly healed scrapes that peeked out from the collar of his shirt stood out in the dim lighting and deep shadows of the room. More evidence of Danny's many ghost fights and injuries that she and Jack had never noticed before. How many of those were from her own weapons?

"Do I have something on my face?" Danny asked as he rubbed the side of his face.

Quickly realizing that she'd been staring for too long, Maddie blushed at being caught. "Oh no, sorry sweetie." Clearing her throat Maddie spoke up. "Why are you awake? I didn't wake you did I?"

Danny yawned slightly, "No, I've been awake for about…" he paused to glance at the nearby digital clock. He let out an exaggerated breath, letting his head drop to his chest in a look of defeat. " I've been awake for the past hour." he finally said.

Maddie was surprised, that'd meant he'd been up before her. "That's surprising. When you passed out earlier, you scared us for a moment, before the medical team said you were just exhausted. Jazz figured you'd be asleep for a whole day if no one messed with you."

Danny scoffed, "Yeah, if no one bothered me."

She could see some frustration on his face, the softness of his blue eyes hardening some before seeming to resign to the situation at hand. "What happened?"

"Ghost scene went off, woke me up, and for nothing too. It wasn't even anything threatening, just a tiny blob passing by." Danny said as he dragged his hand down his face.

"Ghost...scene?"

"Oh," Danny sat up straight, having realized that his mother didn't understand the terminology. "Um, yeah, I get these puffs of breath when a ghost is nearby, kind of like a built in early warning system."

Madd pondered his words for a moment, "How does that work?"

"Honestly, not sure, I know some of it comes from my ice core."

"Ice core?!" She must have been louder than expected, as Jack snorted and turned over at the sudden increase in noise. Danny flinched, eyeing his father closely, as Maddie slapped a hand over her mouth. To say she was shocked was an understatement. She knew through her studies that ghosts contained cores of ectoplasmic energy and electrical impulses. In a way these cores were a ghost's heart, nervous system, and brain, at least that's how she'd theorized it. To learn that her teenage son had one as well, defied all scientific logic. Then again, his condition was anything but normal, wasn't it?

Removing her hand, she looked to her son. "Sorry." she apologized.

"It's fine. I was surprised when I found out about it too. Kind of explained where they were coming from though." Danny admitted as he turned back around.

Maddie was slowly beginning to understand that she was going to be learning a lot of new things thanks to her son's abilities. How many of her theories were wrong? What amount of their data would they have to recalculate to adjust for the presence of half-ghosts?

"You're taking this surprisingly well." Danny's comment broke through Maddie's thoughts before she could get lost in the tidal wave of questions.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I half expected you and dad to freak out or ground me, but you didn't."

She laughed softly, "Honestly, I don't think it's fully sunk in yet. I'm sure once we're home I'll have a good cry or something." She paused and looked to her son. "Tell me, were you ever going to tell us about what happened to you?"

Danny sat, his half lidded eyes gazing at the large space heater, his lips pursing as he thought about her question.

"Were you that afraid of your father and I?" Maddie asked, a hint of sadness and guilt edging into her voice.

"What, no, no, I wasn't afraid." Danny moved to quickly reassure her. "I mean sure at first I was, what with dad shouting about how he wanted to rip me apart 'molecule by molecule'." he said making a motion like pulling string apart. "But then something happened and it showed me that you and Dad would accept me no matter what. I just..."

Maddie watched as Danny seemed to wilt a little, "I just wasn't ready for you to know. I kept waiting for the 'right moment' or would convince myself that I'd tell you before something big happened, but we see where that got me. Before all this happened, Jazz had been pestering me to tell you, saying it was going to happen one way or another. Guess she was right."

Before Maddie could respond, Danny gasped. The sudden sound of distress made her sit up straighter as her full attention was on her son. She watched as he inhaled sharply, then released his breath as a puff mist. The swirling mist reminded Maddie of being outside in the cold and being able to see your breath. She watched closely as a hint of glowing toxic green sparked within baby blue, as Danny began to quickly scan the small room. His shoulders were tense, ready to move at any hint of danger. Silence filled the room, nothing out of the normal for that evening made itself present, and slowly Danny began to relax.

Casting one last look around the room, Danny settled back into his, looking sheepishly to his mother. "Sorry." He said, rubbing the back of his head.

"What was that about?" Maddie asked, pushing past her shock.

Rubbing at tired eyes, Danny sighed in slight frustration. "That was my Ghost Sense, means there was a ghost nearby."

"Should I wake your father?" Maddie inquired.

"No, it's nothing worth going after."

Danny's tiredness that had still been present earlier, had suddenly seemed to increase ten fold after the slight scare. His exhaustion was catching back up to him. Maddie scooted closer to her son, grabbing the edge of his blanket, draping some of it over her own shoulder. For a moment, Danny was confused by the gesture, unsure of what to do. Wrapping one arm around his waist, Maddie pulled her son close to her.

"Mom…?"

"Sssshhh," Maddie shushed gently, as she guided his head to her shoulder. "Rest some. I'll keep watch, alright?"

Fighting back another yawn, Danny simply nodded, as his eyes began to shut. Maddie sat, pulling the blanket tighter around them, as Danny's breathing evened out into the familiar rhythm of sleep. Taking comfort in being near her child, Maddie leaned her own head against his.

"We'll talk more later on, sleep well sweetie."


End file.
